Reflections on Reading John E

Naval War College Review Volume 69 Article 25 Number 2 Spring 2016 Reflections on Reading John E. Jackson The U.S. Naval War College Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Jackson, John E. (2016) "Reflections on Reading," Naval War College Review: Vol. 69 : No. 2 , Article 25. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol69/iss2/25 This Reflections on Reading is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Jackson: Reflections on Reading REFLECTIONS ON READING Professor John E. Jackson of the Naval War College is the Program Man- ager for the Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program. By provoking us to free our minds of constraint and convention, worthy science fiction allows us to create a mental laboratory of sorts. In this place, we can consider new problems we might soon face or contemplate novel ways to address old problems. It sparks the imagination, engenders flexible thinking, and invites us to explore challenges and opportunities we might otherwise overlook. GENERAL MARTIN DEMPSEY, USA (RET�) FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF he Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program (CNO-PRP) ex- ists to encourage sailors to read books that are relevant to their careers and, Tin a greater sense, books that unleash the power of reading to improve their lives in and out of uniform� The eighteen nonfiction books in the current program should be merely a starting point for literary exploration� There are scores of reading lists to be found on the Internet, each with a particular focus or purpose or both� Some strict list compilers limit their recommendations to nonfiction books, somehow believing them to be more appropriate to whatever agenda they are addressing� I would argue that in many circumstances stories told in fictional contexts can be even more effective in shaping one’s thoughts and in developing one’s ability to think and act creatively� Since the CNO-PRP was launched in 2006, featured books have included Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, Robert Heinlein’s Star- ship Troopers, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, and many other works of fiction� Without question, fiction can be powerful� General Dempsey’s comments cited above speak to fiction’s ability to create a “mental laboratory” in which new and unconventional ideas can be considered� His thoughts appear in the foreword to a recently published book by the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, which produces a wide range of possible future war-fighting scenarios� The Center’s Art of Future Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2016 1 NWC_Spring2016Review.indb 155 3/8/16 10:29 AM 156 NAVAL WAR COLLEGENaval REVIEW War College Review, Vol. 69 [2016], No. 2, Art. 25 Warfare project seeks to investigate how emerging antagonists, disruptive technologies, and novel war-fighting concepts could shape tomorrow’s conflicts. Its fasci- nating new e-book entitled War Stories from the Future is available for free download (in multiple formats) at www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/books/war-stories -from-the-future. The price is right, and the ideas are stimulating. The CNO-PRP recommends another stunning consideration of future warfare, Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War by P. W. Singer and August Cole, as a Title of Interest. The Reuters news agency describes the book as [f]ascinating. Though it is fiction, the authors have taken great pains to keep their storytelling realistic. Ghost Fleet has a certain weight. Cole and Singer are so steeped in future wars that they depict the fighting—on the ground, in space and on the Internet—with an air of indisputable authority. Ghost Fleet is full of wonderful moments. It’s got space pirates, drug-addled hackers out of a William Gibson novel and American insurgents fighting occupation in Hawaii. Cole and Singer make these fantastical elements work, and weave them into the story. Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), Supreme Allied Commander, NATO, 2009–13, and current dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, has written the following about Ghost Fleet: Global war between China and the United States—unimaginable? Hardly. In Ghost Fleet, Peter Singer and August Cole lay out a plausible, frightening, and pitch-perfect vision of what such a war could look like in the near future. This page-turning marvel is the best source of high-tech geopolitical visioneering since Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising and Sir John Hackett’s The Third World War. A startling blueprint for the wars of the future, and therefore it needs to be read now! And Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the thirtieth Chief of Naval Operations, calls the book “[a] page turner. Thoughtful, strategic, and relevant.” Ghost Fleet is a great read, and a great idea generator. While it is unquestionably a work of fiction, it includes over four hundred footnotes that describe the emerging technologies employed by both sides of the postulated conflict and link readers to sources for further research. It is a complete package. Inquisitive minds from every age group frequently ask, “Will you tell me a story?” Skillful writers of fiction can respond to this request in ways that can be eye-opening, challenging, and rewarding. JOHN E. JACKSON https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol69/iss2/25 2 6751_ReflectionsOnReading.indd 156 3/11/16 9:08 AM.

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